When Antiochus is on his way back, he will also return to Israel. Then he will pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain.
The sea is the Mediterranean Sea. The holy mountain is the hill of Zion—the mountain on which the house of God, the temple, is standing. Antiochus wants to show that he is in charge, and not the Lord. He, as the incarnation of the god Zeus, is lord. That is what he thinks. He sees himself as the almighty one who is now worshipped in the temple on Zion through the statue of Zeus that was erected there. He exalts himself above everything and everyone. It seems as if this man is untouchable. But his fall will be great. The Lord will show that he is God, and no one else.
The Lord has been prophesying for hundreds of years before it actually happens that Antiochus will come to his end. At the very time that he is in Israel and has pitched his tents, death comes to him. Some disease strikes him, and he suffers terrible pain. We know this from the description of the history of that time. We see in this the fulfillment of prophecy as well as God’s judgment on this man who exalted himself to such an extent.
This man who elevated himself to god has no one to help him. No one can take away his terrible pain. No one is able to heal him. When the Lord comes with his judgment, no one can stop it. Antiochus is alone in death and will have to appear all alone before the one true God as his judge. He will have to acknowledge the Lord as the one true God. It is the Lord who wants to dwell on Mount Zion. Antiochus has desecrated God’s house terribly. This man, who is a foreshadowing of the antichrist, will be terribly humiliated in hell. We can compare this to the punishment that will come upon the devil, the false prophet (the false church), and the beast (the antichrist). We read about this in Revelation 20:10, And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Anyone who does not live in tender love and humble service to Christ will appear before God as judge, all alone. He does not get someone to help him. Such a person will go to hell along with all of God’s enemies. But those who want to live in sorrow for their sins and in love for God will not end up standing alone before God. Then Christ is there for you as the great Advocate. He defends you on the basis of his work: for he took upon himself the guilt of that person. Then the acquittal follows because Christ gave his life for you.
The Lord is fighting for his people. He saves those who belong to him. We see this in the prophecy about Antiochus and in its fulfillment.
45 And he shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, with none to help him.